



(Avw-s • 



A STATEMENT 



RELATING TO THE WILL OF 



HON. CADWALLADER C. WASHBURN. 



BY 



CYRUS WOODMAN. 



A STATEMENT 



RELATING TO THE WILL OF 



HON. GADWALLADER C. WASHBURN. 



CYRUS WOODMAN. 




To the Legatees and Devisees under the Will 
of the Hon. Gadwallader G. Washburn, late 
Governor of Wisconsin : — 

My attention has lately been called to an article relat- 
ing to the Will of Mr. Washburn, which appeared in 
the " Lewiston Journal," and is there credited to the 
"Philadelphia Press." An extract from the article will 
be found at the end of this statement. 

An evident misapprehension of facts by the writer of 
that article imposes upon me the duty, in justice to my- 
self, to you, and to the testator, of stating the history of 
the preparation of the Will, which is fully known to me 
and to no one else. 

In explanation of my connection with this matter, it 
is proper to say, that, when Mr. Washburn died, I had 
known him for about forty years ; that for nearly eleven 
years we were associated as partners in business, and 
that our long acquaintance and intimate relation gave 
rise to an uninterrupted friendship, which was founded 
upon mutual confidence, respect, and affection. Under 
such circumstances it is not singular that the testator 
should have sought my assistance in preparing his 
Will. 

Mr. Washburn went to Europe in the summer of 
1881 for the benefit of his health, and returned in No- 
vember of the same year. Soon after his arrival he 



placed himself under the care of Dr. Weir Mitchell, of 
Philadelphia, and took rooms at the St. George Hotel in 
that city. He wished me to meet him there. I went, 
and found him on the morning of the 7th of December 
seated at breakfast in the common dining-room, with a 
table-full of Western friends. It was a lively party. 
He was telling stories, and evidently enjoying the soci- 
ety of his friends as well as his breakfast. He seemed 
bright, cheerful, and happy. Most of these friends were 
associated with him in various business matters, and had 
come at his request, that he might personally confer with 
them in regard to their common interests. On the 9th, 
all these friends had left except General Van Steenwyk, 
of Wisconsin. 

On that day Mr. Washburn introduced the subject of 
his Will to General Van Steenwyk and myself. On the 
I2th, General Van Steenwyk left for home. Whether 
any part of the Will had been drafted b}^ me before his 
departure I am not sure ; there had, however, been con- 
siderable conversation among us in relation to it, and 
General Van Steenwyk had consented to act as one of 
the executors, upon my declining to do so. 

After the departure of General Van Steenwyk, Mr. 
Washburn devoted his time and thought assiduously 
to the task of reflecting upon the provisions which 
he desired to make in his Will, and to instructing me 
in relation thereto. After getting the testator's ideas 
in relation to some portion of it, I retired to my room 
and put them on paper. What I had written was 
then read to him, and such changes as he suggested 
were noted. This was then re-written and re-read, 
and generally was several times re-written and re-read 



until it was satisfactory to him. While I was engaged 
in writing in my own room, he had all needed oppor- 
tunity for reflection, of which it was evident he fully 
availed himself. 

The 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th of December 
were devoted to this work. I think that I must have 
given to it from six to eight hours daily. Frequent con- 
ferences, involving many changes of form or substance, 
were necessary. These conferences and changes, and 
the labor of writing, consumed much time. 

A draft of the Will was completed on the 17th ; and 
on that day, by Mr. Washburn's request, I placed it in 
the hands of John B. Gest, Esq., Vice-President and 
Attorney of " The Fidelity Insurance Trust and Safe 
Deposit Company" of Philadelphia. Mr. Washburn had 
previously had a conference with Mr. Gest in regard 
to making this Company a trustee under the Will. It 
was therefore thought by the testator and myself to 
be eminently proper that the draft which I had made 
should be submitted to Mr. Gest for final revision, with 
liberty, as legal adviser, to make such suggestions as he 
might deem proper. Mr. Gest attended to this duty ; 
and the Will, after revision by him, was engrossed and 
executed under his supervision. 

I left for home on the evening of the 17th, and my 
connection with the Will then ceased. Mr. Washburn 
dictated a letter to me on the 21st, from which I make 
this extract: "I am pleased to say that the document 
that you left has been revised and not found wanting, 
very few amendments being required. I expect an 
engrossed copy any day, and as soon as executed I shall 
advise you." On the 27th he wi-ote again, and said : 



6 



"I am glad to tell yon Mr. Gest made few changes in 
the Will, and that I executed one copy of the same on 
the 24th, and that a duplicate is being prepared. I 
breath freer, and am ready to ' leave the warm precincts 
of the cheerful day ' whenever the Master calls." 

No relation of Mr. Washburn was in Philadelphia 
while I was there except Hon. William D. Washburn, 
who was then residing in Washington in attendance upon 
a session of Congress. He came to Philadelphia on the 
7th, and left the next day. He was there again on the 
11th, for a few hours only, I think. To the best of my 
knowledge and belief there was no talk about the Will 
between him and his brother. Governor Washburn 
was a man who would hardlj" brook any interference in 
so delicate a matter ; and none were more fully aware of 
the fact than his brothers. 

During all the time I was in Philadelphia, Mr. Wash- 
burn, though weak in body, showed no diminution of 
mental power. His mind acted with its accustomed 
force and clearness. Every part of his Will received his 
careful thought, accompanied by an anxious wish to do 
what he deemed to be right towards all his relations. In 
order to do what he thought to be the most exact justice 
to all, he again and again made changes, until he had 
deliberately fixed the provisions as they now stand. 

No person was present at our conferences except his 
servant, and no one was aware of the provisions of his 
Will except the testator and myself. The draft was con- 
stantly in my exclusive possession until 1 delivered it to 
Mr. Gest. I think that no relation or friend called upon 
him in the interval between General Van Steenwyk's 
departure and the completion of the draft. While he 



was engaged in considering this subject and in giving 
me his instructions for preparing tlie draft, no one was 
present to make suggestions or to influence him. 

All the legacies to his relations stand as he directed, 
without a suggestion from anyone; in regard to them 
my advice or opinion was neither asked nor given, and 
they are as absolutely his as if written by his own 
hand. 

Mr. Washburn thought that by his provision for 
his wife, and by his legacies to his relations and friends, 
he had done his whole duty to them all, and so expressed 
himself to me. Satisfied on this point, he then felt free 
to found those public institutions which are provided 
for by his Will. The wish to found them was evi- 
dently near his heart, and the result of no sudden im- 
pulse, but of mature thought. He had not however 
fully decided upon the restrictions and safeguards which 
it would be expedient to impose upon them, and there- 
fore upon these points he requested me to make sugges- 
tions freely, which I did. The sums to be bestowed on 
each he determined for himself, and without suggestion 
from me. 

In the subjoined article it is stated that I acted as the 
amanuensis of the testator. The statement is almost 
literally true, and I find no fault at being so styled. 
The Will is 3Ir. WasUurn's Will. 

I have thus minutely stated the facts and circumstan- 
ces attending the making of the Will, that you may see 
them in their true light. My statement shows that the 
imputation contained in the article above mentioned, 
that the Will was made under influences or circum- 



8 



stances favorable to some and adverse to others of 
the legatees, is erroneous. If a Will were ever made 
calmly, deliberately, with clear thought and with entire 
freedom from any extraneous influence, it was the Will 
of Mr. Washburn. 

There is another statement in the article which I 
think it incumbent on me to notice. It is as follows : 
" It was perfectly understood at the time that the Will 
as drawn was intended only as a temporary and precau- 
tionary measure ; and Governor Washburn repeatedly 
expressed his dissatisfaction with its provisions, as too 
hastily drawn and entirely inadequate." Knowing, as 
I do, more about his thoughts and feelings at the time 
of making the Will than does any other person, I state 
with the positiveness of absolute conviction that there 
was no such understanding ; and that, on the contrary, 
Mr. Washburn made this Will as his Last Will and Tes- 
tament, with the full knowledge that his hold on life was 
so precarious that it might any day fail, though he was 
at the same time not without the hope and expectation 
of living some years. I am jDOsitive that in making his 
Will he never once thought of it as " a temporary and 
precautionary measure." The Will was made with all 
the care, deliberation, and forethought of one who, hop- 
ing for long life, yet had cause to fear an early and sud- 
den death. It was made, too, I know, with what he 
deemed even-handed justice to all the legatees. 

That he ever expressed himself as " dissatisfied with 
its provisions, as too hastily drawn and entirely inade- 
quate," is hardly credible in view of what I have said. 
If any one should declare that he heard the testator use 



9 

such an expression, I can but believe that the import of 
his language was misapprehended, so utterly inconsistent 
is it with the whole tenor of his thought while he was 
engaged in making the Will. I can well understand 
that if any one ventured to question him on so delicate 
a subject as the provisions of his Will, the questioner 
would, if not instantly rebuked, receive a reply which 
might appease or repress, if it did not satisfy curiosity 
or anxiety. 

It is further positively said that "he notified the 
o-entleman who acted as his amanuensis to meet [him] 
at an appointed time and place for the purpose of exe- 
cuting an entirely new and satisfactory will." I never 
received any such notice, and must doubt that the tes- 
tator had any intention of giving it. If I had received 
such a notice, I should instantly have replied by letter 
or telegram, and have answered in person at the earliest 
possible moment. The wishes of my dying friend 
would have been to me as a command. 

If he had felt that there was any serious mistake or 
oversight in his Will, he had ample time and strength 
to rectify it in the four months and a half which elapsed 
between its date and his death ; and though an invalid, 
no one who knew him well can doubt that the thought 
of such mistake or oversight would have roused him to 
immediate action, and that he would not have rested 
until, by a codicil or another Will, rectification had 
been made. 

I have appended such part only of the article from the 
"Philadelphia Press" as I have thought it incumbent 
upon me to notice. 



10 



As this paper is not intended for publication, but for 
private circulation, and primarily for the legatees, I 
have written more in detail than T otherwise should 
have done. 

The facts and circumstances attending the making of 
the Will, and my convictions as here stated will, I trust, 
tend to dispel misapprehensions, and to unite all the 
legatees in an effort to give full effect to the wishes of 
the testator as authentically expressed in his Last Will 
and Testament. 

May the same generous, charitable, and unselfish spirit 
which graced his life so inflame and elevate our own, 
that we too, like him, may long be remembered for 
benevolence of heart, for public benefaction, for private 
charity, for thoughtful care of the living and tender 
recollection of the dead ! 

" Large was his bounty and his soul sincere." 

Honored be his memory ! 

Cyrus Woodman. 

Cambridge, Mass. Jan. 1, 1884. 



11 



From the " Lewiston Journal." 

"At the time this Will was drawn none of his heirs-at-law 
were in this country, — both of his daughters, together with 
their husbands and all his grandchildren, ten in number, 
being in Europe, where Mr. Payson, the junior son-in-law, 
was accredited as United States minister to Denmark. 

"It was perfectly understood at the time that the Will as 
drawn was intended only as a temporary and precautionary 
measure, and Governor Washburn repeatedly expressed his 
dissatisfaction with its provisions, as being too hastily drawn 
and entirely inadequate ; and he notified the gentleman who 
acted as his amanuensis on the occasion to meet [him] at an 
appointed time and place, for the purpose of executing an 
entirely new and satisfactory Will, but his sudden death 
prevented, and the Philadelphia Will was duly j^robated in 
the States of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri, where his 
large property was chiefly situated, 

"The estimated value of his estate was about two and a 
half millions of dollars, and owing to the influences to 
which he was subjected at the time his last Will was exe- 
cuted, and the absence of his children or any member of his 
wife's family, he had been induced to leave one full half of 
his entire residuary estate to his brothers and sisters and 
their children, although the amount left to the same parties 
in specific bequests exceeded $250,000 in addition." 



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